Elysian Fields remain a state of mind, a paradise of heroes, a place, as Virgil said, of perpetual springs and shady grove. A place where baseball is played and revered.

Last Call from the Desert….Cruz, Sundberg

Nelson Cruz is unemployed. He is not forgotten.

Cruz rumors keep popping up. At one point it seemed likely he was going to sign with the Mariners. Now the Orioles are supposedly in the hunt.

The Rangers? They still keep in touch with his agent and they could use more power in their offense. What is also interesting is the Pirates are still looking for a first baseman and Mitch Moreland is listed as a possibility.

That’s not going to happen right now because Moreland is the Rangers primary designated hitter. But if they sign Cruz, they either keep Moreland as a part-time DH, first baseman and outfielder, or they could flip him to the Pirates.

Right now there does not appear to be anything brewing. But as the spring progresses, the longer Cruz stays unemployed, the chances of him returning to Texas may start to grow. Just one of those Spring Training subplots that are still out there.

— There is a possibility Major League Baseball could adopt rules that protect catchers from collisions at home plate. Former Gold Glove catcher Jim Sundberg is not a proponent of the proposed rules.

“If the catchers block the plate the right way and the umpires enforce the rules, there wouldn’t be any need,” said Sundberg, now a vice-president with the Rangers.

Sundberg said umpires need to enforce the rule that catchers can’t block home plate without the ball. Sundberg also said catchers need to learn to take a collision head on and absorb the blow instead of turning one way or another. All that does is expose the knees and ankles to potential injury and that’s what happened with Giants catcher Buster Posey a few years ago.

“Posey was a young catcher without experience and he got hit with his knee bent out of position and got hurt,” Sundberg said.

— Darren Oliver is in camp for a week as a special instructor.

He said it

“That’s part of my life. I don’t want to talk about it. Give me a few weeks but it’s a part of my life.

Leonys Martin on his on-going nasty legal dispute with the people who helped get him out of Cuba.

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